Right Of Way
Cottage Compost
Posts: 496
This isn't specifically a gardening thing but does involve several gardens.
Hoping someone may share there thoughts and experiences about whether having a ROW actually gives a property added value. Be it monetary or socially or otherwise in some other way.
5 properties involved of which my property is the centre one but none of them are land locked as the ROW is across the bottom of the back gardens.
Now I say that an ROW exists for now but none of the properties actually have an expressed or documented ROW and nor can they prove that they have a ROW. Very much to the surprise of all those properties involved it has been proved that I can claim an ROW by way of a Deed of Grant dated 1952 that gives me an ROW and I have a witness statement from the previous owner that gives me 77yrs of continuous use.
All those properties involved want an ROW through everybody else's gardens as long as nobody else has an ROW through there garden!!!!!!!!!!!! Typical!!
All are very miffed about the fact that I've proven I have an ROW and nobody else has, this gives me a great deal of potential power.
All have been to solicitors etc etc etc and at the mo all is fairly amicable but quietly it's obvious that everybody's nervous.
I have a decision to make. Do I dig my heels in and pursue my ROW or do I let it go?
Letting it go will give all those properties a private garden. Establishing an Expressed ROW for my property will give me a footpath that exists already through my neighbours gardens both ways.
Does having an ROW through another's property give added value to my property or not? Not necessarily monetary or does it devalue the properties.
The ROW is not an essential ROW everybody can adjust there lives and walk around a slightly longer route (Yards only) albeit via a quite road instead.
This isn't about whether I / we have an ROW but rather about its impact on the gardens, properties and the monetary or social impact.
Thoughts and experiences please.
Posts
Presumably you bought the property with your RoW in existence? That being so it added to the value of your property and you paid for it. If neighbouring property owners wish you to give this up they should make financial recompense and pay for all legal costs etc.
And you should only give it up if you want to, taking all the implications into account.
The owners of the neighbouring properties should have been aware of your RoW - either by usage or because the Deed of 1952 would have been referred to in their property's deeds. It may have a negative effect on the value of their homes, but that has been in existence since 1952 and is nothing new.
My instinct is to continue with the status quo unless the neighbours are willing to compensate you.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I bought it knowing that there was "Something" everybody was friendly, everybody walking back and fourth without issues. In fact it was / is all very pleasant. We all often share our gardens, tea, coffee, wine, lunch and so on.
However one of the properties has since changed ownership and instead of just leaving things alone they wanted to investigate just what exactly this ROW was etc etc and it's obviously opened up a hornets nest. This property owner has very much regretted what they have done but it has highlighted the fact that no official expressed ROW exists for any property but mine.
Everybody is now contemplating what to do and I'm sure wondering what my choice will be.
It's a great shame because up until the point the ROW was questioned everybody was happy about it, excepting it and using it and very much enjoying it and the social pleasure it gave.
As far as I know your Right of Way cannot be extinguished except with your express consent as it's formally recorded in Deed. You don't have to exercise it to retain it if it is a legally documented one so you could just let it drop without actually giving it up. The neighbours may have a right established by continuous use and if none of you contests that, everyone could agree to carry on as before and everyone would then have, in effect, a Right of Way.
If I was looking to buy a house, a Right of Way belonging to the property which is not essential to maintenance of the garden and which goes through other people's property would be a negative - bound to lead to these sort of disputes from time to time. And most definitely other people having a right of way through my garden would put me off - all the maintenance and legal issues that that entails (what if someone slips on my path where I didn't get round to clearing it properly?)
We had a house where the gardens were all higgledy-piggledy accessed via a network of paths and mostly not contiguous with the houses they belonged to. We owned a section of the paths because a previous owner had registered the land as his, but everyone else used them. It was a constant burr, minor irritations (especially with the old guy who thought HE should own it) and arguments about tripping over hose pipes and who's job it was to weed the edges. Nightmare. I would not take such a thing on again if I could avoid it.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
It has been established by solicitors who has and does not have rights etc etc.
The legalities about who has what rights and otherwise have all been explored and finalised etc. All properties involved have accepted the results but of course most are un happy and are waiting for me to make a decision.
My deed of grant dated 1952 and my witness statement giving me a 77yr prescriptive ROW has not been registered / presented to Land Registry so as yet no Expressed ROW exists within anybody's Title Registers until I present them formally.
I have to decide whether to make my claim to an ROW an expressed ROW and therefore make it a legal ROW within my neighbours Title Registers or not forever successors in title.
I have a ROW if I want it. Nobody else has a ROW unless of course all properties decide to give everybody one in the meantime.........Not going to happen.
Do I want a ROW through my neighbours gardens?
What possible advantages or disadvantages does it give me?
Will it increase my properties value or devalue it?
What to do?
I think the fairly obvious disadvantage is that your neighbours will probably hate you for doing it.
As for advantages; I see none , other than some sense of superiority on your part.
OK, if it's not been registered then surely it doesn't exist and no one else has one either.
I think that a legal and binding agreement that no one owning property in the terrace will now or in the future seek to establish a legal RoW should make everyone happy.
Last edited: 22 September 2016 10:40:17
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
No - not if you don't need t for access.
Nothing but trouble
Probably neither unless it causes a formal dispute, in which case, as Pansyface says, it will devalue it. The only financial gain would be if it permitted you to get Planning Permission for a house in your garden. There are plenty of reasons why a right of way alone would not make that possible.
If it was me, I'd do nothing and tell everyone it's my intention to do nothing.
You can put all the legal docs together and hand them over to a buyer who will have exactly the same choice as you. It won't disappear if you do nothing now, unless you formally relinquish it. If one of your neighbours decides to get awkward in future, you are in a position of strength so can easily argue your own corner so you don't need to act in advance. Your neighbours can't force you to extinguish it. They could make you an offer, then it would be a matter for you to chose. In any other situation it will cause more trouble than it's worth.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I agree. You are the only one who benefits and you already have alternative access if needed and friendly access to the slightly shorter route.
Making it official will breed resentment.
Let sleeping dogs lie. Put your neighbours' minds at rest and resume peaceful, friendly relations with them.
Not really. Land Registration is a new system relating to ownership of the land itself. Rights of Way go back much further and are built into the most archaic parts of English property law. A Right of Way can exist without ownership of the land affected and without it being recorded in any ownership of that land.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
http://uk.practicallaw.com/1-385-9229#a691744
The final part of this, on Section 62 0f the LPA1925 suggests, (if my reading is correct, and I am not a lawyer!), that the Grant of easement of a |ROW may have been deemed to exist, subject to the requirements stated, even if not specifically mentioned in the deeds of the other properties.
I think that this is quite a tricky problem. It would be easy enough for all of you to get together and give each other permission to cross your land, or to continue as you have been doing on the assumption that the right exists. However, either of these courses of action could have legal implications affecting the easement of ROW, and one could also foresee circumstances in which you might not want a particular party to have that right, if for instance one property changed hands and the new neighbour was not as pleasant as the current ones.
One solution, if legal certainty is required, is for all of you to agree to chip in to allow one of your number to consult a solicitor on behalf of you all. If the use of the pathway is longstanding and continuous by all concerned you should all be in equivalent positions, as you will have allowed access over your garden to other neighbours too. Or you could try justanswer.co.uk Law.Then at least you would have some idea what you might need to worry about
It is possible to download a legal template to grant ROW to others for a small fee if everyone agrees that this is what you all want to do.